Empty Hearts
by Hikari Shadokijo
Summary: Tasuki witnesses the pain that gave Chichiri that scar. Even as Zell Dincht, there's nothing he can do to protect Chichiri... or Squall Leonhart. But with Rinoa/Kouran... can they still love each other? *YAOI* *TAS/CHI* *Squall/Zell*


Empty Hearts  
****  
FY/FFVIII crossover.  
  
author's note: rewritten and placed in the FY category... I had to.. only way to pair up Tasuki and Chichiri properly... I didn't like where I was going before.  
  
Tasuki witnesses the pain that gave Chichiri that scar. Even as Zell Dincht, there's nothing he can do to protect Chichiri... or Squall Leonhart. But with Rinoa/Kouran... can they still love each other? *YAOI* *TAS/CHI* *Squall/Zell*  
  
****  
He has that scar again. It's not the same hideous gash that once sewed his right eye shut, instead it was running from the middle of his eyes, down along the bridge of his nose and ending just near his cheek.  
  
What hurts is that I swore to myself, that I would protect him, and stil he has that scar. Dammit, I was even around when it happened. I could have done something. At least he's been reunited with her, and he and Seifer seem like friends again. Perhaps he senses that he's Hikou.  
  
I sigh, and close the book. No one knows about me obsession with books, and now I'm writing one. The sad attempt to record the other world. Heh, kinda strange, seeing as I wasn't a big reader before.  
  
I start to ink the cover, capturing the movements and personalities of each of the four gods. Each one intertwined with their character. On the inside I drew their human forms. Suzaku had the most emotion, the most details. I still pray to him sometimes.  
  
"Zell! Ya in there?"  
  
I swear, that damn pigtailed girl is the most annoying bitch! She's gotta be the reincarnation of Nur- no, that'd be mean. Nuriko was great, just gender confused. No way can I call Nuriko something so horrible...  
  
"Yeah Sori!" I call back. I don't know why, but I think she's convinced that she's my girlfriend. Good Suzaku! Doesn't she know I don't like HER? I mean, I like girls... just not HER.  
  
I open the door and she's standing, smiling her hair all pulled back into that pigtail.  
  
"Hiya Zell! Want to go training with me?" she asks, obviously thinking I want to go with her. In fact, I can smell a hot dog, dammit. She has ways of getting me to accompany her. Why... she could even be Tomo!  
  
I laugh, and she looks at me. I shake my head and wave my hands. "No, no. I was just thinking of this... guy I met once."  
  
"So?" she says, trying to pursue the question. "I brought you a hotdog," she adds, pulling out my favorite food. Damn, she pulls ALL the punches.  
  
I sigh and take it into my hand. "Alright, let's go! Let's see if you improved from last time!" She takes my arm and clutches me tightly. Damn possesive, she is.  
  
~*~  
  
Sori rested her head against Zell's shoulder. "Zell, you're the best... maybe you can teach me some cool duel tricks?"  
  
"You need your own limit break! I can't teach you what I know!" he snapped in return. She was taken aback and let go of his arm.  
  
"Zell? You alright?" she asked cautiously.   
  
He glared at her, then sighed. "Sorry Sori, I'm just a little jumpy today."  
  
She shook her head and clamped onto his arm again, and they headed outside for better training. Much to Zell's surprise the sky was thundering, a warning of rain. "Hey, let's get this done quickly," he said, looking up.  
  
"Alright!" she chirped and sank into a fighting stance. She began to show of a few combinations that she got from a magazine, throwing a few of her own into the mix. Zell, a little distracted, failed to see the punch headed for his abdomen. He grunted, surprised at the small girl's strength. She laughed, watching him feign death. He toppled to the ground, clutching his sides. It was then he noticed the drops of rain begining to fall from the sky, and the distant figures of Rinoa and Seifer.  
  
~*~  
  
No, not in this life too. I stand up and stare, seeing Seifer definately making motions that seem to say, "I'm still in love with you, Rinoa."  
  
She is shaking her head, pushing him off. Obviously insisting that she is in love with Squall. I take a step towards them, the rain is coming down hard. I hear Sori crying that we need to go inside. I don't listen and take another step, and another. I need to stop this before it goes any further.  
  
Too late, I see Squall heading towards them, just as Seifer gets Rinoa into a kiss. I close my eyes for a moment, before I realize what might happen. I force myself to watch and to run. If history trully repeats itself then I know what's going to happen to my bro- no, he's not my "brother" any more. That was another lifetime, but it didn't matter. I see him lose his temper, and Rinoa crumples to the ground.  
  
The rain is gathering strength. The flood is begining again, and it is about to take Hikou with it... again.  
  
I'm running... it's too late. Both of them, without their gunblades, are fighting. After they became friends, their fragile relationship is broken. It was too soon for this to happen. I hear Rinoa sobbing, "I can't be with you Squall, not any more."  
  
Dammit, just like before. She's still like Kouren.  
  
~*~  
  
Squall gripped Seifer by the shoulders. "Why'd you do it Seifer! After we became friends!? Do you hate me that much?"  
  
Seifer grunted, the strength of Squall's anger enough to push him backwards towards the cliff. "I-- I had to!" he cried in response, pulling from his friend's grip.  
  
Squall swung and tried to punch him, only to be knocked from his feet by someone crying, "CHICHIRI!!" He was tackled to the ground by Zell who was sobbing about something.  
  
He could make out, "Scar... past... friends... forgive." Other than that, everything he spoke in was in a dialect he never heard of.  
  
"Get off me Zell, before I hurt you," he hissed.  
  
"NO! I won't let you harm yourself again!"  
  
"Again?"  
  
"For the sake of reven--"  
  
Rinoa was teetering on the edge of the cliff, clutching a hand to her chest. She was crying, "I'm sorry!"  
  
Seifer lunged at her, pushing her away from the ground. She skidded through the wet grass and mud, crying. Zell rolled off Squall, surprised, amazed. The older blonde, who was still standing near the edge, slipped on the wet rocks. Squall leapt to his feet and caught him before he lost his grip on the land.  
  
~*~  
  
No matter how hard I try... he's destined to lose the two people that mean the most to him. Rinoa may not have been killed in the flood, but she is now nothing more than a tangle of limbs in the dirt. Alive or not, I don't know. I hear a snap, the waters are already begining to flood the land. The rain is pooling around our legs.  
  
I turn towards the sound and see a jagged log... a jagged log. I close my eyes. There's no way to stop it. So, I was wrong. That scar along his nose was not the scar he recieved in his last life. Now I'm here to witness it, the horrible sight that made Chichiri who he was.  
  
I take a step, I want to stop the log. I have enough time, but somewhere I feel in inside me that it wouldn't work anyway. I hear a Squall cry out as Seifer lets go. He must know what's going to happen. Then, I hear a sickening crunch. I start to cry.  
  
My hair is no longer sticking up the way it used to. I did my hair like that as an attempt to remind Squall who he used to be. The rain flatted the hair to my head, and I feel like Tasuki again. I let the old memories take over. I feel the fire inside me, burn.  
  
~*~  
  
Tasuki ran to his friend, his hair darkening to a familar shade of red. He held his breath at the sight of the wound. It was enough to make him sick. The rain was washing most of the blood away, but he could see the torn nerves, the deep socket of a lost eye. He held his breath and took the boy into his arms. His eyes widened, staring at Squall's hair. The roots were blue, as if he had accepted Chichiri to return, only the transformation wasn't complete when he was knocked out.  
  
"Chichiri!" he cries, his hands shaking. He tore at his clothes, pulling free jagged strips to tie around his friend's head. The blood was coming too fast. More, more, he already tore half of the black shirt.  
  
Sori was watching from the distance. She saw Zell change. She raised a hand and using her last curaga spell she had, she casted it on Squall.   
  
It didn't wake him up, but it did heal him... as well as it could  
  
Tasuki turned to her, and she smiled. Holding the taller boy to his chest, they began to head back to the Garden. Sori looked back at Rinoa, then towards the cliff... 


End file.
